It is right at six when I leave the house and get back into my car. I start the engine and head to Calypso’s. The drive takes twenty minutes and I realize I am super early. I find a parking spot and get out of my car.
As I head towards the entrance I see Mitch standing a few feet away from the entrance smoking a cigarette. He spots me and quickly drops the cancer stick in the grass and mashes it with the heel of his boot.
“I’ve been trying to quit.” he smiles at me as he must have noticed my disgusted look at his choice of habit.
“Well, as long as you don’t smell like an ashtray.” I smile back.
He chuckles. “Nah, I only smoke one cigarette a day every other day. Feel free to do a scratch and sniff.”
I laugh. “That’s not necessary. Since we’re both early why don’t we go on and grab a table.”
He nods and then rushes to the door and holds it open for me. “After you.”
I walk inside and Mitch follows me. The hostess shows us to a small table and sets two menus down in front of us. She tells us our waitress will be with us shortly and walks back to the podium up front.
Mitch and I make small talk until our waitress arrives and takes our drink order. She comes back five minutes later with Mitch’s Heineken and my iced tea. She asks if we’re ready to order. Mitch orders a Pastitsio, a traditional Greek macaroni casserole, while I order a Gyro plate which is basically the ingredients for a Gyro plated separate from the pita bread so I can eat it separate or together if I so choose.
The waitress walks off to put our order in. I turn my attention to Mitch and watch him sip his beer. He smiles at me when he pulls the bottle away from his lips.
“So, how was your week?” he asks me.
I sigh. “Crazy. I wish I could clone myself so I wouldn’t have to deal with all these problems at once.”
He nods in agreement. “You are so right. I would make one clone go to work, one clone pay the bills while I just kick and relax.”
I laugh really hard. “God that would be the life. I want to tell my daughter when I get home to enjoy these last few months of freedom and irresponsible behavior.”
“Don’t you miss those days?” he sighs.
“I really do.”
We share a laugh and Mitch stops abruptly and reaches across the table and places his hand on top of mine.
“I’m glad we could take this time to unwind together.”
I smiled at him and turned my hand so that our fingers could interlock.
“Oh, have you heard anything about the case against your ex-fiancée?” he asks me.
I frowned at the mention of Axel. I hadn’t thought about him over the last few days due to the issues I’ve been dealing with regarding Amber.
“The last I heard he was being extradited here and if he doesn’t plead guilty to assaulting my daughter, she would have to testify.”
“Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully everything will work out.”
I nod and hope for that too. Our food comes a few minutes later and Mitch and I have a hearty conversation over dinner. He has me laughing so hard when he tells me stories of his childhood and how he used to dance around the house in his underwear, much to the disapproval of his father because he did it up until he was thirteen.
“Thirteen? Really?” I laughed as we finished our meal.
“Yeah, I stopped doing it when my brother, who’s four years older than me, started bringing his friends around; especially his girlfriends.”
I shake my head while laughing some more. Our waitress brings the bill over and Mitch pays for it.
“You didn’t have to pay the full bill.” I tell him.
“Well, I invited you out.” he reasons and we get up from our table.
We walk out of the restaurant and Mitch walks me to my car.
“I had a great time with you.” I smile at him.
“So did I. When can we do it again?”
“Ummm, well I’ll be busy this weekend and you’re going back on a cruise soon right?”
He nods. “And I won’t get another break for five weeks.”
I pout. “Damn. We should keep in touch then and if I’m free when you’re free then we can get together.”
“Well, take care of yourself Vivian.” he smiles at me.
“You too.”
He opens his arms for a hug and I walk into them. I hug his torso and he wraps his arms around my back. I pull back and Mitch leans his head to mine and places a soft kiss on my lips.
“Good night.” he whispers after pulling away from me.
“Good night.” I whisper back.
I walk away from him and get into my car. I start it and head home. It is shortly after ten when I walk through the door. I see Amber asleep on the couch and an empty pizza box on the coffee table. The TV is on SyFy channel which Amber loves.
I turn off the TV and grab the empty box. I trash it and tell Amber to go get in her bed. She groans as she gets up off the couch. She stretches and slowly begins walking to her room. Before she gets to the hallway I ask her how things went at Mrs. Hirsch.
She mumbles that our neighbor didn’t have any chores for her. They spent the entire day with Mrs. Hirsch telling her about how she met her husband, about their three kids and seven grandchildren. She told me the only fun part of the day was when the picked the strawberries Mrs. Hirsch grew and made homemade strawberry smoothies.
I laugh softly. “Well, you know Mrs. Hirsh has been lonely since her husband died two years ago.”
“Whatever. Good night.” she yawned.
“Oh, we’ll head out at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. It will take us five hours to drive to Orlando.” I tell her.
She tells me she understands and head to her bedroom. I head to mine after I pull off my heels. I get into bed and fall fast asleep after turning off the light.
Chapter 32
Start from the beginning
